Easy Turmeric Yellow Rice

By
Jim Hingst

Yellow
rice dishes are popular among many different cuisines, including Indian, Latin
American and Middle Eastern. Recipes for yellow rice typically include
turmeric. Not only does this spice give the rice its color, but it also
contains a component called curcumin, which provides many health benefits.

Health Benefits of Turmeric

Health
benefits include lowering blood pressure, relieving inflammation, easing depression,
reducing heart disease and possibly preventing cancer. Some tests have also led researchers to
believe that curcumin even helps lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels.

To ensure
that you derive all of these possible benefits, you must use it in the proper
manner. Turmeric powder is most efficiently digested, if it is first dissolved
in oil at low temperatures in the cooking process. Your body also absorbs the curcumin more readily,
if it is combined with a chemical, called peperine, which is the active
ingredient in black pepper.

Turmeric powder, which comes from the
curcuma longa root, contains curcumin, a chemical that provides many health benefits. Photo by Karl Solano from Pexels

Below
is a foolproof recipe for making the basic yellow rice. It not only tastes
great, but it is good for you.

Ingredients

1
tablespoon olive oil or avocado oil

1 teaspoon
butter

1
large onion chopped

1
jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped

2
cloves minced garlic

¾ teaspoon
turmeric powder

¼ teaspoon
coarse black pepper

¼ teaspoon
ground cumin

1
cup long grain white rice

2
cups chicken broth (1 15oz. can of broth)

1
bay leaf

Instructions

Over
medium heat, sauté the chopped onion and jalapeno pepper in the olive oil or avocado oil and
butter, until the onion becomes translucent and begins to caramelize. The olive
oil has a high smoke point, while the butter adds flavor.

Add
the garlic and spices. Continue to sauté the mixture for a minute, until the
spices bloom.

After the onions become translucent and begin to caramelize, add the garlic and the spices. Continue to saute until the spices become fragrant. To stop the cooking process and prevent scorching, add chicken stock.

Heating
a spice in oil can improve the body’s ability to absorb it as well as giving it
more flavor. In cooking parlance, heating in oil is referred to as blooming.

When
heating the spices, pay careful attention to what you are doing, so you don’t burn
them. Be prepared to add some of the chicken broth to stop the cooking.

Washing the rice to remove the starchy coating.

Rinse
the rice until the water becomes clear. This removes the starchy coating on the
rice that makes it stick together. Soak the rice in water for 30 minutes to 2
hours. This softens the rice and reduces cooking time.

NOTE:
This recipe calls for long grain white rice. If you decide to use brown rice,
you will need to add additional liquid and increase cooking times.

Combine
the rinsed rice with the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and
simmer in a pot with a tightfitting cover for 20 minutes. Turn off the heat. With
the rice covered and allow the steam within the pot to continue to cook it for
an additional 10 minutes.

Fluff
the rice with a fork. Remove the bay leaf. Garnish with chopped cilantro.

Microwave Instructions

Cooking turmeric yellow rice in your microwave is even easier than cooking on your stovetop.

You can also cook turmeric yellow rice in your
microwave. It’s even easier to prepare this way than on the stovetop. After washing
the rice, let it soak in half of the chicken broth for 2 hours in a microwave-safe
dish. Add the sauteed vegetables with the spices, which have been heated on low.

Microwave on high uncovered for 10
minutes. Cover the dish and continue to microwave at half power for an
additional 5 minutes. Allow to covered dish to continue to steam for an
additional 10 minutes, before serving.

You
can store leftover rice in the fridge for up to 4 days. Reheat leftovers in the
oven or in a microwave.

You can
modify this basic recipe in many different ways. For example, you can add a small
seeded and chopped tomato, or thawed frozen peas. You can also garnish the
cooked yellow rice with slivered almonds.

Curried Rice

You can alter the spices to your taste. Below are
the ingredients used to make curried rice, which are similar to those in
turmeric yellow rice.

1 medium onion, chopped

½ cup chopped green pepper

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon olive oil or avocado oil and 1 teaspoon of butter
for sauteing

1 cup long grain rice

2 cups chicken broth (1 – 15 oz. can)

½ cup frozen peas

2 teaspoons curry powder

1 teaspoon turmeric

½ teaspoon black pepper

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

½ teaspoon Italian seasoning

½ teaspoon chili powder

1 bay leaf

Salt to taste

Turmeric yellow rice is a nice change of
pace from plain white rice. It’s also a great way to get turmeric into your
diet.

Substituting Avocado Oil for Olive Oil

For sautéing I have been using olive oil. Recently, I starting
replacing it with avocado oil. You may have noticed that avocado oil was suggested in the ingredients for this recipe as a substitute.

Both olive oil and avocado oil are rich in
healthy fats and provide similar health benefits. While olive oil is a little
more potent when metabolizing fat, avocado oil has a much higher smoke point,
which makes it better for cooking.

As you may have surmised, the smoke point is the temperature
at which an oil begins to smoke and burn. The smoke point of olive oil is all
over the place largely depending on how it is processed. Extra virgin oil is
generally the best. The problem is that much of what is labeled as “extra virgin”
oil, which is the first pressing, is not really what you are getting.

Extra virgin olive oil can have a smoke point somewhere
in a range from 320º F to 410º F. When cooking at low to medium temperatures, olive
oil is good enough. Regular olive oil actually withstands heat better than
virgin olive oil. On the other hand, reserve the more expensive virgin olive
oil, which has a more robust taste for use in salad dressings.

Avocado oil has a smoke point of 510º F, which makes
it a better choice for cooking at higher temperatures than any other cooking
oil. Corn oil, by comparison, has a smoke point between 350º F and 450º F.

Avocado oil and olive oil both have high amounts of unsaturated
fats (84% monounsaturated and 16% polyunsaturated), which can reduce blood
pressure and lower the bad (LDL) cholesterol. These fats also help your body
absorb fat-soluble vitamins including A, D, E and K. Avocado and olive oils may
also reduce inflammation and the pain from arthritis.

Try these other Signpost Recipes

The Best Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Poppers

The Best Beef and Cheese Enchiladas

The Best Hot Dog Toppings

Grilled Buffalo Wings

Armadillo Eggs

Meatloaf Burgers

Beer Brats

Bon Appetite!

About Jim Hingst: Sign business authority on vehicle wraps, vinyl graphics, screen printing, marketing, sales, gold leaf, woodcarving and painting.

After fourteen years as Business Development Manager at RTape, Jim Hingst retired. He was involved in many facets of the company’s business, including marketing, sales, product development and technical service.

Hingst began his career 42 years ago in the graphic arts field creating and producing advertising and promotional materials for a large test equipment manufacturer. Working for offset printers, large format screen printers, vinyl film manufacturers, and application tape companies, his experience included estimating, production planning, purchasing and production art, as well as sales and marketing. In his capacity as a salesman, Hingst was recognized with numerous sales achievement awards.

Drawing on his experience in production and as graphics installation subcontractor, Hingst provided the industry with practical advice, publishing more than 190 articles for publications, such as Signs Canada, SignCraft, Signs of the Times, Screen Printing, Sign and Digital Graphics and Sign Builder Illustrated. He also posted more than 500 stories on his blog (hingstssignpost.blogspot.com). In 2007 Hingst’s book, Vinyl Sign Techniques, was published. Vinyl Sign Techniques is available at sign supply distributors and at Amazon.